Once again, Design Milk, along with our official WANTED Launch Pad platform media partner Clever, as well as sponsors American Standard and Lumens, are happy to announce the winners from the ICFF hosted showcase, which happened during this year’s NYCxDESIGN.
Led by Clever podcast host Amy Devers, the jury responsible for final selections in the Furniture/Home Accessories and Lighting categories included: Giulio Cappellini, Founder, Cappellini; Founder and Curator, Jean Lin, COLONY, the designers’ co-op; Andrea Cesarman, Co-founder, Design Week Mexico; Jean-Jacques L’hénaff, Leader, LIXIL Global Design AMERICAS; Ann Petersen, Senior Director, Brand Marketing, Lumens; Chay Costello, Associate Director of Merchandising, MoMA Retail.
In addition, our very own managing editor – and yours truly – co-judged the Best of Schools and Best of Students prizes, sponsored by Alessi, with studio leader and principal Barry Richards of the Rockwell Group.
Best of Launch Pad Furniture/Home Accessories: Tom by Reggyyy
Montreal-based industrial designer and self-taught 3D artist Reggyyy takes an artful approach to a practical object with the design for Tom. The otherwise inanimate lounge chair is imbued with the maker’s personal style and a little bit of soul as the electric color and sculptural shape evoke a playful being.
Youtian Duan and Yingxi Ji, the eccentric duo behind the playful studio Another.World, use camp and creativity to combat negativity through design to create safe spaces with their artful objects like the Butterfly luminaire. While seemingly literal, the work references butter as a concept equivalent to the malleability of human potential, wherein we are the unique ingredient that can be baked into so many things.
RISD’s Material Opulence is perhaps the most robust proposal to debut with each piece portraying a different part of its greater visual narrative, nay argument, that luxury home furnishings can be reimagined and made inclusive through a collection of functional domestic objects. Delightful and subversive, viewers walk away rethinking previously held notions of assigned material value, hopefully prioritizing craft, environmental empathy, and an embrace of utility as a means of enjoyment.
Best of Students: Lutum by Eduardo Sampson from Universidad Anáhuac Mexico City
Eduardo Sampson marries digital design with analog craft for objects and artifacts that enrich the lives of those around them. For ICFF the designer presents Lutum, a ceramic chain link l’objet d’art encrusted in beads as a testament to Mexican artisans and creative collaboration. Some 240 hours of work imbue this piece with priceless value.
Photography by Jenna Bascom Photography for ICFF.
